


[I]nfected

by AnotherAspiringAuthor



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Character Study, Comfort, Emotions are definitely not prohibited, F/M, Flirting, Fluff, Honestly 042 is a little shit in this one, Hurt, Hurt/Comfort, Sarcastic Pod, Teasing, There is some plot here honestly, Unresolved Romantic Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, pre-game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-05
Updated: 2019-02-18
Packaged: 2019-10-22 20:40:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,312
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17669696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnotherAspiringAuthor/pseuds/AnotherAspiringAuthor
Summary: It takes killing him four times to realise he isn't just a target for her blade. The fifth time, she realises he's like a virus, twisting her from captain and executioner to friend and ally. And just like a virus, by the time she realises he's in her head, it's too late to do anything about it. Just like a virus, the host dies with the infection.Or: How they evolved from executioner and victim, to something a little bit more complex.





	1. The First Five

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't even finished this game and I'm already trash for these two.

The first time she kills him, it’s quick and relatively painless. The order comes in quietly from her pod as he sits there, making his way through a database from the Old World. Hands come from behind him, one delicately placed on his chin, another on the back of his head. It’s just another order, another job and there’s nothing personal in what comes next.

‘Ma’am wha-‘

The crack is crisp, without hesitation and the noise of 9S’ neck snapping echoes loudly in the empty ruins they’ve found themselves in. His body crumples and she looks at it, head tilted. Something stirs in her chest; far from sympathy but she certainly isn’t detached from this kill. He died with his eyes open, surprise, confusion, wonder filling them. He looks tiny in death.

She sees him again two hours later and he smiles at her, nodding and saluting as they pass each other in the Bunker. It’s an effortless reaction to return the greeting, heading to receive her next orders.

* * *

 

The fourth time she kills him, things change a little. She’s always made sure to kill him from behind, as fast and painlessly as possible, so that he might die as he lived. Curious. Unaware. The order comes in and she steps over the scattered cogs of a machine to approach him. He was knelt down by one of the few enemies she had left intact. By the stillness in his body, she could see he was in the machine’s network, looking for information. The tiniest of creases form at his mouth as his lips purse in concentration.

She draws her sword to slice his throat from behind and as she raises it, he turns abruptly, about to shout some new discovery at her. She moves quickly to strike and lunges forwards. Steel meets steel as 9S yells in surprise, summoning Cruel Oath and barely managing to deflect her attack as he scrambles backwards. Her blade just barely nicks the visor covering his eyes and it flutters to the ground in the stunned silence that follows. 2B feels an odd sort of pride at his quick reactions, the new feelings of hesitation and self-doubt as she looks upon his hurt, betrayed eyes. He hurries to his feet and his weapon shakes in his hand as she falls back into a fighting stance, sword poised.

‘What the _hell_?’ She doesn’t respond, ignores how that boyish whine hits her harder than any machine ever had. She’s managed to keep a healthy distance from him, knowing that getting close would just make her job that more difficult and it’s incredibly annoying that somehow, _somehow_ , he still managed to pierce her defences. ‘I’m on-‘

She doesn’t give him the chance to finish. Two steps forward and her foots out, kicking his sword to the side. It’s the first time she’s turned her combat prowess against him directly and she follows her momentum, sword spinning in her hand and impaling him from the front, her back tucked tight against his chest. The gasp of air from him is warm against her ear, tickling strands of hair as one hand settles on her shoulder and another on her hip.

‘Why…’

It’s unconscious, instinctive, emotional, the way she takes her sword out and spins, catching him before he falls and gently cradling him to the ground.

‘I’m sorry,’ she says and as detached and level as her voice is, she truly is sorry for this. He doesn’t deserve to die like this, slowly and in pain. Hands pat at the side of her head clumsily and 2B can already see the life draining from him. ‘I never meant for it to hurt.’

‘You’ve done this before,’ he chokes out, horror written in every centimetre of his body as he freezes up, tries to escape her arms. Blood drips from behind his lips. ‘I _trusted_ you.’ 

That is the fourth time she kills him but the first time he dies in her arms, face to face with his assassin for eternity in this endless war, his betrayal and horror and confusion written all over his eyes. It dawns on 2B there and then that maybe this would be the assignment to truly kill her, far before any of the machines physically best her. Not every kill would be from behind; not every kill would he go quietly into that good night.

Four hours later, in the Bunker, he waves at her and approaches to tell her their next assignment, voice disturbingly upbeat considering she had just cleaved her way through his lungs and spine hours previously. She walks away from the conversation, outwardly the epitome of composure.

‘Glory to mankind.’ She salutes as they depart.

She promptly plants her fist into the wall of her room as soon as the doors slide shut.

She resolves to get to know him better after this. If she must be his executioner, she can at least ensure he is dying beside a friend, knowing the blade through his stomach is not put there out of hate or coldness but out of the fulfilment of a reluctant duty.

It was almost funny, in a sardonic kind of way. She was to kill him, over and over again, to watch the life drain from his eyes endlessly because his infectious curiosity got the better of him and she was to do so kindly, with a smile.

* * *

 

‘Don’t call me ma’am,’ she says to him before the fifth time she destroys him, the pair of them scouting out a place for the Resistance to camp at and provide them with some extra reach in the region. Where it is seems irrelevant at this point; only that it is on Earth, and soon, her blade would slice through rusty metal in the name of claiming it back.

He looks at her, head tilted. She refuses to look back, eyes focused on the horizon as she walks forwards. Always forwards.

‘Just 2B. Ma’am’s too formal.’

‘Alright, 2B.’ She can tell he’s trying to contain his happiness from the way his voice bubbles and bounces, how her name flows from his lips. She hates how nice it is, to have someone address her by her name. Not ma’am, not android or soldier or any number of other designations. Just 2B.

Later that day, they’re sat on a cliff edge, overlooking a sprawling, abandoned city. 2B allows her legs to dangle over the edge, Virtuous Contract in hand as she carefully cleans the blade, polishes it to a gleaming edge whilst 9S does his Scanner thing across the city.

‘It’s beautiful isn’t it?’ He says to her, in a quiet voice. ‘In a sad, overgrown kind of way.’ His face is bathed in a ray of sun, wind gently lifting at his hair as he taps away at an interface in front of him.

‘I never paid much thought to it.’ 2B answers back, gaze lingering on the speaker longer than the scene. She doubles up her focus on the blade, doing her best to switch her mind off and lose herself in this menial task for a few minutes.

‘You should stop and smell the flowers a little more often 2B.’ It’s annoying how much sway her name has over her when it comes from his lips. She can practically hear the smile on his face from his voice. ‘It helps make this war a little easier to bear, I find.’

She wants to say something awfully snarky. _Don’t you have any work to do? That’s awfully Old World of you 9S. Are you sure you’re a Scanner and not some relic of times gone by?_

‘One day, maybe.’ She replies instead, voice carefully measured. She expects that to be the end of the conversation, her tone putting off any continuation to the subject. And yet, her arm was yanked up, body forced to follow as 9S brazenly dragged her to her feet.

‘No time like the present.’ He chirped. ‘Pick a spot, we’ll go check it out.’

‘We’re on duty, we can’t just-‘

‘Yes, we’re on duty so pick a spot _quickly_ and we’ll go check it out _quickly.’_ There’s a shrug and a cocky little smile. ‘What Command doesn’t know, can’t hurt.’

A long suffering sigh escapes her lips and 2B surveys the landscape. Towering buildings, covered in moss and dirt, grime and plants. Trees rising like giants between the smaller structures. Water flowed freely from some unknown location, creating an odd crescendo of liquid over concrete as it pummelled its way over multiple buildings and ruins. It’s hard to see, visible only if she squinted and-

‘You’re a terrible influence,’ she tells him, with no heat to her admonishment. A finger comes up to point at the impromptu waterfall where nature met man. ‘Over there, I suppose.’ 

The interface closes as 9S claps his hands together, rubs them excitedly. ‘Brilliant. Lets go then. Last one there can do the after-action report!’

‘Now, hang on just a se-‘ But he’s off, diving off the cliff and grabbing onto his pod as he descends, calling out to her. She can do nothing but falter off for a moment before rubbing her head with a sigh. She looks at her pod and it moves, floating from her side to over the cliff edge.

‘You’re just as bad.’ She says to the support unit, pointing a finger at it before jumping off to play catch up.

* * *

 

They call it a draw in the end. Both of them barrel into the area 2B had pointed out, water pooling inside a high barrier of rubble and metal, pouring from a broken pipe somewhere above them. The warrior in her recognises the aftermath of a black-box reaction when she sees one but she’s too busy catching her breath back to pay it much heed. 9S is beside her, hands on his knees as his chest heaves. Breathy little laughs escape from him now and then.

‘I-I didn’t realise-that you Scanners-could be-so- _fast_.’ 2B doubts she’s heard herself so breathless since she’d been booted up. Something in the back of her head whispers to her that she doubts she’s had so much fun since being booted up. Another breathy laugh from him chases it away as he straightens up, stretches his arms up and out with his head tilted backwards.

‘And I didn’t realise you were so reckless,’ he gets out. ‘Who the hell dives from an eight-story building without their Pod?’

She had to make time up somewhere, didn’t she? And besides, who the hell went through an eight-story building for a shortcut? 2B’s about to open her mouth to say just that but 9S is already off and looking around the area they’ve found themselves in.

‘What do you think happened here?’ He asks, fingers gently trailing across the rubble encircling the water as he walked around it.

‘Why does it matter?’ He shrugs.

‘It doesn’t, I guess. Everything’s got a story though…be nice to know this one.’

 _That curiosity will get you killed_ , she aches to say. _I’ll have to execute you myself if you keep that up_.

‘Black-box detonation,’ she finds herself saying instead, walking forwards to join him and peering inside the makeshift pool. ‘Look at how circular it is, all the scorch marks on the inside.’ That head tilt again. It’s really quite ridiculous how endearing she’s beginning to find it, how he finds ways to communicate non-verbally with his eyes covered up.

‘But…why?’ All the machine parts interspersed in the rubble are given a cursory glance over. ‘There’s not enough junk here to make more than a few stubbies.’

‘I don’t know.’ She does know. Some soldiers just…get fed up. Black-box detonation and a memory wipe seems like the only option to them. 9S doesn’t need to know that however.

Something clangs loudly from above, echoing and 9S jerks his hand back, head darting around trying to locate the source of the noise. 2B slowly reaches back and wraps her fingers around the handle of Virtuous Contract.

**_Alert. Movement detected._ **

‘Where?’ she hisses, turning to put her back against 9S’, feeling his own knuckles bump against hers as they keep their grips ready on their weapons. There’s a building leaning on the large, heavy water pipe above them, thick trees surrounding them, the light of the sun blocked by the built up rubble.

**_Unknown_.**

_‘_ That’s _really_ helpful, thank you so much Pod.’

**_Multiple black-box signals detected. Signals show signs of decay and virus. They are…laughing._ **

‘Oh no…’ 9S whispers and all around them, she can hear the androids jumping down from the building above to encircle them. There’s sickening crunches as the legs collapse from the immense height, the heads of the androids twitching erratically as they all stand, even through the pain of shattered motors in the legs.

‘I think you just got your answer to what happened here.’ 2B says quietly. She draws her weapon and slowly, the pair of them start to circle, keeping track of the infected androids, waiting for them to make the first move. 9S’ breathing is harsh behind her. ‘Stay close. Don’t get surrounded.’

‘It’s a bit late for that I think, 2B.’ The androids take a tentative step forward, twitchy in their movements. It reminds her of feral wolves, in a twisted way. The curious, careful way they approach. She can almost hear their sub-routines whirring away. _Kill. Kill. Kill._

She breaks the deadlock first, snarling something along the lines of ‘Screw this,’ and launching her sword straight into the head of the nearest android. A piercing death scream is let loose as her victim falls to the ground and the fight begins. There’s all sorts of screeching, the screeching of the feral androids launching into their prey, the screeching of metal ripping metal as 9S deftly sidesteps an attack and rends his opponent in two with a lethal cut. The screech of blade meeting blade as 2B finds herself locked against one of the infected, teeth gritted as overclocked motors whir and overheat against her own regulated, limited ones.

It’s cruel really. In the end, the fifth time she kills him isn’t because of his curiosity, isn’t because of some order from above. It’s because of her own curiosity, a killing born from mercy as the same virus infecting the androids works its way into his system from one of his hacks to take out an enemy poised to strike 2B down from behind. It doesn’t take long for her to decimate the enemy once she sees him gasp, clutch at his head as he falls to one knee clumsily. There’s something feral in the way she moves, dropping out of the blade lock by slamming onto one knee and slicing mercilessly through the offending target. It doesn’t take for her to summon a second sword, both of them never ceasing as she rips and tears through the seemingly unending enemies.

Her sword drops with a clatter as the last enemy falls, turns and sprints to 9S. She catches him just before he slumps forward, groaning into her shoulder.

‘You idiot,’ she hisses. ‘You _idiot._ ’

His hand braces on her other shoulder, using it to push himself up as the virus rampages through his systems. Even as he gasps and struggles to fight it off, she can see that cursed red light beginning to shine in his eyes.

‘Guess you’re gonna be doing the after-action report, after all.’ He rasps.

‘Shut up,’ She snarls back in response. ‘Where’s the nearest access point? We can back your memories up at least, get your data to-’

‘Too far gone,’ is the panted reply. His hand leaves her shoulder and brings her hand up between them. With his other hand, Cruel Oath is gently pushed into it. Her fingers curl around the warm handle reluctantly.

‘No.’ 2B means for it to be a firm statement but instead it comes out more like a request, a pleading to whatever higher power has put them here. ‘No, I ca-I won’t.’

He gives her a sad smile as that red light grows ever brighter.

‘You will. You always do your duties, 2B. It’s one of the things I admire most about you.’ He falls back onto his legs, head tilted upwards to the waterfall. Neck exposed for the sword. ‘Sorry in advance for calling you ma’am again.’

2B rises, lips thin as the blade of Cruel Oath is rested gently against the exposed skin, held by one hand. The other is curled into a tight fist by her side.

‘Thank you…’ he murmurs, just before the blade slices his throat, artificial blood spilling over the blade like water into the pool of rubble behind 2B. ‘You’re…you’re a good friend.’

The fifth time, it feels as if someone has punched her square in the face, breaking nose, jaw and heart all at once.

* * *

 

She makes a point of being there in the Bunker when he wakes up, fingertips resting gently on his chest as he blinks slowly, coming to. He glances at the hand resting delicately on his body and then to its’ owner standing above him, her own head tilted.

‘Ma’am?’

‘2B.’ She corrects and if anyone calls her out for the embarrassed flush on her face, she’d kill them. ‘You call me 2B. Can I sit?’

Confusion fills his face but he nods none the less and she sits, hand reluctantly leaving his body.

‘I killed you. Your body was infected by a virus.’ she admits and desperately wills herself not to confess to all the other times she has done so. ‘You’re missing a few hours of memory. I-I thought you might appreciate being told what happened. I know it isn’t quite the real thing but-’

His face takes on an eager look, eyes shining even in the dull grey-and-black of space. He swallows up her tale of their race, the android battle, the small interactions in between with a greedy kind of contentment.

‘Thank you.’ He tells her, voice strong as he sits on the edge of the bed, rotating his wrists and neck as he broke in the new body. ‘You’re a good friend, 2B. I appreciate it.’

She never quite understood that human saying of ice filling her veins. She thinks she gets it now.

When she leaves and returns to her own room, she resolves to _never_ do that again. The urge to confess is far too strong and she knows, just as sure as she knows she’ll always have to kill him, that she’ll confess her sins to him if she carries on with that.

**_Proposal. Unit 2B could simply transfer her memories of events to Unit 9S’ consciousness should such an event happen once more. Unit cohesion has been observed to be more effective when 2B is not emotionally distant from Unit 9S._ **

She tries her best not to stare daggers at 042, hovering in front of her placidly as she sits on her bed.

‘You know 9S. He likes to dig. It’s why he keeps getting killed.’

**_Proposal. Memory transfer would alert Unit 9S to the possibility of termination upon discovery of YoRHa data. Unit 9S may cease to…’dig’_ **

‘Somehow, I doubt threat of death would stop 9S from going digging. And you’re awfully chatty today.’

**_This unit is assigned to Unit 2B to support her in combat and reconnaissance operations. The continued deaths and memory wipes of Unit 9S emotionally impact Unit 2B. We propose solutions to help Unit 2B achieve maximum efficiency once more._ **

Behind her visor, 2B’s eyes narrow.

‘I’m fighting just as well as ever. And emotions are prohibited.’

 ** _…Of course._** A beat of silence.

**_This unit has accessed Old World data on ‘friends’ and human customs in handling these relationships. Would Unit 2B like to access these files?_ **

2B sighed.

**_Lack of verbal communication interpreted to be an affirmative. Human friends often gave one another ‘nicknames’; shortened versions of their own names, sometimes pertaining to an event or personality trait. Further-_ **

‘Alright, enough, I get it!’ Pod 042 fell silent and she fell back on the bed with a huff. ‘Engage rest mode and alert me when our next orders come in.’

 ** _Affirmative._** Was she imagining that smug inflection in the robotic voice? And what the hell was it playing at, giving her Old World records on nicknames? What kind of nickname could she even give 9S?

‘9S.’ She said aloud, reluctantly. _Stupid pod and it’s stupid archives and stupid-_ ‘9S. 9S 9….S. Nine. S. Nine…S. Nines.’ That was alright wasn’t it? ‘Nines.’ It sounded natural coming off the tongue. Pleasant even, in the familiarity it encompassed, the friendliness. ‘Nines.’

 ** _Hypothesis. Nines would be an acceptable nickname judging by the records of the Old World_**.

Damn it. She was going to melt that thing into scrap.

**_Reminder. Emotions are prohibited._ **

‘I swear to whatever God or gods might exist, I will _eviscerate_ you if you say one more thing, you snarky little-‘

**_…Engaging rest mode._ **


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not-proof checked. We die like men. 
> 
> Upon finishing the game, I think it's safe to say I've found a new obsession. Ending E man. Damn

The first time she calls him Nines, she doesn’t even realise she’s done so. For weeks, she’s always _thought_ of him as Nines, just not quite managed to verbalise it. As with seemingly everything else in her life that concerns him, it sneaks up on her and rather aggressively smacks her in the face.

‘Just a little further this way,’ the Scanner told her, somewhat breathlessly as they navigated through thick trees, fluttering plants, a steady buzzing of mechanical flies accompanying them. ‘We should hit the targets in an opening up ahead.’

Wordlessly, she drew her weapon and sped up to march ahead of him. 2B’s quite thankful he hasn’t made mention of this new trend, her marching into a fight first and creating so much trouble, the majority of the enemy focus on her. She somehow doubts citing it as a ‘battle strategy’ would fool him, much like it hasn’t fooled her.

As usual, 9S is on the money; two large machines idly whirring about, supported by a number of stubbies equipped with some terribly rusty looking chainsaws stumbling about.

‘Last group,’ 9S sighed as he pulled alongside 2B, his own weapon coming into hand. ‘I really can’t wait until we’re out of this place; do you know how bad all these thick trees are messing with my sensors?’

‘Quit complaining and focus up.’ The words are hard but they’re accompanied by the smallest of smirks that she knows he can just barely see. Before he can respond, she launches in, losing herself to the routine of battle. Slice, parry, stab, roll, slice, jump, kick. She’s running on auto-pilot, relishing in how her body seamlessly moves from action to action, target to target. Sometimes, in quieter moments, she finds herself regretting her role as a combat unit, never to know peace. The artificial roar of adrenaline in her system, the sharpness of her movements, the clinical pleasure she took in being so damn efficient at her job all serve to dispel such doubts, should they arrive.

It’s a mistake really. She shouldn’t have underestimated their opponent, shouldn’t have allowed herself to dip into this battle haze. As she spins and gracefully brings her sword across the legs of one larger machine, cleaving it to her level, there’s a yell from the opposite side of the overgrown clearing. Both swords are summoned and she whirls them into the machine’s torso, hearing it crackle and groan as it falls to the ground whilst she turns.

9S is on one knee, arms shaking as he holds off the remaining large machines’ arms from smashing him into a tiny, 9S sized heap of junk, both swords having caught the machines slow strike. It’s clear he wasn’t a unit intended for heavy combat as he yells, growls, grunts his way through the pain of forcing his arms to work overtime and his eyes are closed as both his swords come closer and closer to his body.

Sprinting towards him, 2B has to give him credit. She would have struggled hard enough to keep up such a defence for so long; from personal experience, she knew there was nothing but sheer, stubborn willpower stopping his arms from giving in. Pod 042 hovers at the midway point between her and the machine and she jumps, feeling the power from the motors in her legs explode suddenly. 042 bounced under her weight momentarily as she sprung from it, sword coming down to impale right through the head of the enemy.

It sputters, arms leaving 9S to flail heavily and clumsily as its systems short-circuited before it joined its’ brother in falling to the ground. 2B jumps as it does, landing a bit away from 9S, still on his knees breathing heavily.

So sue her if she sprints towards him. She’s seen him on his knees too many times to not associate it with critical system problems.

‘Nines,’ she gets out as she skids to a halt before him, kneeling to eye level. ‘Are you alright? C’mon, get up.’

‘Just…taking…a little…breather.’ It seems it takes a few seconds for either of them to realise what’s just left 2B’s lips. She almost finds it worrying how much entertainment she draws from his flushed cheeks, the breathy little ‘oh’ of realisation. ‘What did you ju-‘

‘Pod, run a maintenance scan on 9S, make sure everything’s in it’s proper place.’

**_Affirmative._ **

‘2B, what did you just-‘

‘And send a message to Command that the area’s all clear. The devil knows why they even want a camp in this damp hell.’ Yeah, her voice is a little louder than is really called for in cutting him off and she’s speaking more brazenly than is really necessary but she’s hoping he gets the idea.

‘You just called me Nines.’ Apparently he did not get the idea. Or if he did, he just ignored it. 9S stands slowly from his position on the floor, rolling his shoulders carefully.

‘…I did.’ It’s a good job really the adrenaline’s still running from combat, elsewise there’s a good chance she might just walk away feigning deafness.

‘Not that I’m complaining but…why?’

‘I-well-uh-‘ Really? She was stuttering? _Really?_

**_Accessing Old World archives on nicknames for Unit 9S’ enlightenment._ **

‘Don’t you start that again.’ 2B had the presence of mind to point her finger in what she hoped was an intimidating manner at the support unit. The damage had been done however.

‘Nicknames?’ 9S’ voice was gentle in its boyish wonder. ‘Why would you-‘

‘You said I was your friend. Pod 042 very _helpfully_ decided to enlighten me on human customs regarding friendships.’ This was accompanied by a glare at the offending unit. ‘I apologise. It was unprofessional and it won’t happen again.’

And then, as she began to walk off, hoping that some deity might see fit to sign off on her execution for once, 9S piped up.

‘Say it again.’ 2B paused at his command.

‘Excuse me?’ She could practically hear him swallow, draw himself up straight as her shoulders roll, head turning ever so slightly so he’s in her peripheral.

‘I-I didn’t mind it. I wouldn’t mind hearing it again.’

 _Abort, abort, abort._ Adrenaline might still be running through her veins but it is most certainly not because of combat anymore. 2B couldn’t help but feel she was toeing a very dangerous line with this. Silence settles heavily as she turns, looks him up and down, worrying at her bottom lip a little. His shoulders are held tightly, fingers curled around his sword so tightly she’s surprised the handle hasn’t shattered. Tension practically permeates every inch of his body.

‘Nines.’ It’s short, the way she says it this time. His shoulders relax and he visibly exhales as his cheeks colour again. That was a…curious reaction. It’s a sign that she’s been in his presence far too long that 2B acts on impulse, moving towards him instead of taking them back to an access point.

‘Nines…’ She lets the word linger on her lips this time, drawing it out softly and gently as it’s breathed out. One hand delicately taps against his arm, head tilted and _shit_ , she’s enjoying watching him squirm and flush and relax beneath her touch. ‘How are your arms?’

‘Wh-What?’

‘Your arms. Are they alright? You’re not built for locking against Goliaths like that.’

‘Oh-I-Yeah, yeah, I’m-They’re-Fine, it’s all fine.’

‘Good,’ she murmurs and those tapping fingers stop, draw a line slowly down the sleeve of his shirt. ‘We should get back to base Nines.’ And with that, she promptly turns, hand trailing over his arm before she walks away. Behind her she can hear him stumble forwards before regaining his balance and can almost imagine his wide eyes, slack jaw.

That was, she decides, far too much fun.

* * *

 

It’s… enlightening that she is the one to die this time. It’s more of an annoyance than anything really, all of her data backed up already so the only memories she’s missing are the few minutes or seconds before she died. Breaking in the new body, having to twist all the kinks out of her new shoulders, stretch out the clear, unscarred skin of her legs to get the wires inside loose and flexible.

It’s both a help and a hinderance, being the one to die this time. 2B closes her eyes as she goes through the usual stretches, knuckles popping with a satisfying _crack_ as she plays her old data back. The last thing she remembers before waking up alone is Nines laughing gently beside her, fist-bumping his Pod after winding 21O up some. There’s the memory of something landing on her shoulder, an imperceptible weight only noticed thanks to him pointing it out. She’s frozen stock-still, unsure of what to do. Does she swat it? Squash it? Reach for her sword and slice the tiny thing into pieces? It would be difficult to be sure, but 2B’s certain she could do it, given enough space and time.

‘It’s a bee,’ Nines tells her, snickering at her frozen features. She relaxes her shoulder a little at his laugh; if she concentrates, can feel the small creature pattering around slowly on her shoulder. ‘Don’t worry, it’s harmless.’

‘I. Am. Not.’ She grits out through tense teeth, uncomfortable as the thing moves onto her bare skin, ever so slightly on her neck. 9S begins to wave his hand in front of her face. ‘What the hell are you doing?’

‘Trying to get rid of it for you before you remember you’ve got very sharp steel on your back.’ He continues the odd waving, slowly moving closer and closer towards her face and before long, that uncomfortable tickling on her neck is gone. 9S, however, continues to keep waving. She grabs his wrist, fingers curling around it in a gentle hold.

‘I believe it’s gone.’ His head tilts and she mirrors him, her own head moving without conscious command. ‘What?’

‘Nothing.’ A short exhale of breath and Nines cheeks are colouring ever so slightly. ‘It’s-Nothing, it’s nothing.’

She opens her mouth to say something, to push him harder but there’s a shout from him as he pushes her and then-

And then she died. That’s annoying. She can’t even remember how she died?

**_Unit 9S backed up Unit 2B’s memory data to the Bunker upon critical systems failure._ **

‘Yes 042, I realised.’ 2B doesn’t hear her door slide open as she turns to the Pod in question.

**_Unit 9S was unable to fully finish memory backup; he was interrupted at 99% completion. Hypothesis. Request Unit 9S to enlighten Unit 2B on the manner of her death, so that she may not repeat the same mistake twice._ **

‘He really knows how to rub it in, huh?’ 9S’ voice comes from behind her, sounding quiet and tired. 2B flinches, tries not to jump about ten foot in the air from not hearing him enter. Years of combat haven’t exactly done her nerves any favours in regards to surprises.

‘Please,’ she says to him, turning to face him and take in his appearance. ‘Please, tell me it wasn’t the bee.’

He looks…tired. Dirt scuffs his shoes, his legs caked in mud and oil. One arm hangs limply by his side and the other rests delicately against his shoulder. _Dislocated_ , 2B thinks looking at how gingerly he’s holding it. And yet, despite all this, the agony he must be in, he somehow _laughs_. Without her visor on, it’s a losing battle to stop herself from visibly softening at the sound.

‘It wasn’t the bee.’ He reassured her. ‘Ambush. Got caught from behind. It…It was a quick death.’ He doesn’t quite meet her eyes as he talks, seemingly speaking to her Pod instead. Did he blame himself?

‘I see.’ There’s a little tilt to her lips as 2B speaks. ‘Caught from behind. How embarrassing.’

‘Well, to be fair, you did tear the offending machines head off and throw it at the one coming at me so hard it short-circuited before...well-you know.’

That was the issue, wasn’t it? She did know now. She knew what it was like to die, to lose minutes, hours, months of memories and have to rely on second-hand accounts to get back in the loop. She knew what it was like to have that gaping blind white spot in the databanks, like a word just on the tip of her tongue but still out of reach.

It just made it all that much harder. See, he’s got a bit of a pattern by now 9S. A certain amount of time allotted for her to spend with him before she must dispatch, begin anew at square one. Two months until he got curious, started digging deeper and deeper into the machine network. Three before he burrowed through into the Bunker, found whatever classified data it was that the Commander refused to allow him to know. Maybe four, if it was a good life.

‘Sit down.’ 2B commands, allowing no room for questions in her authority. From beneath the bed, she pulls out a basic maintenance kit as 9S silently complies. ‘I don’t know how much I can help with the arm with just the basics but I can fix that dislocated shoulder at least.’

‘It’s alright,’ he hurried out, moving to stand. A hand firmly planted itself on his chest and pushed him back down. ‘Really, I can just go down to the techs, it’ll be less hassle and-‘

‘You’re _my_ partner. I’ll look after you, thank you very much, not some random, know-it-all techie.’ Now that’s a possessive streak a mile wide that she hadn’t quite meant to let peek out. ‘Just as you always do.’

There’s that flush again on his cheeks, the exhale through his nose as he relaxes, slumping a little as he does so. He looks…content.

‘You look after me. I look after you.’ He remains still as 2B slowly unties his visor, lowers it and carefully lays it flat on the floor beside his feet. There’s a bright little gleam to his eyes, even through his injuries.

‘Always.’ There’s a part of her that’s laden down with guilt, feels like she’s betraying him with every kind word she utters, every step closer she takes to him. Going by the warmth in that one word, she’s also pretty sure the rest of her has just packed it in, called it a day and got to work burying that guilt deeper and deeper, one line of reasoning at a time.

There’s a hiss of pain, a harsh gasp as 2B gently moves his hand from his shoulder, replacing it as softly as possible with her own hands.

‘This’ll hurt a little,’ she told him, voice still warm. ‘But it’ll ease up in a few minutes.’

Two things strike 2B as he looks at her, nods his head determinedly; This was the first time in six lives the pair of them had looked upon one another, visors removed and eyes bare open to be examined. The second thing that struck her was just how….well… _breath-taking_ his eyes were. Tiny flecks of colour dotted his iris, vibrant and bright even in the uncaring vacuum of space, expressing such inquisitive life in the way they moved and searched her own. Suddenly, she understood that Old World saying of eyes being windows to the soul. 9S’ reflected his soul wholeheartedly.

Hell. She’d only meant to be his friend to ease the pain of the inevitable. Not to end up waxing poetic. The solid amount of pressure 2B applies to wrench the shoulder back into position is as much for her sake as it for Nines, snapping her out of her whimsical thoughts. His gasp of pain does just that and 2B finds one of her hands lingering, carefully running itself over the shoulder in an instinctive attempt to help ease the pain.

‘You know,’ he mutters after a few minutes, 2B’s hand still slowly moving over his shoulder despite the pain clearly being better. ‘When I first met you, I thought you were so…so _cold_ and icy.’ His good arm moves, taking her hand carefully into his, thumb running over the back of it. ‘I’ve never been more wrong about someone. You’re a big ol’ softie at heart, aren’t you Bee?’

She has to give him credit for catching her out like that. Her breath catches a little at the unexpected nickname and _damnit_ , _so this was how he felt_ is perhaps the only thought running from her logic circuits. Space might be cold and empty but the room had contracted, turning hot and small in a matter of seconds. Nines is smiling softly at her and why, _why_ is it so natural to return it with one of her own playful smiles?

‘Say that again,’ and her words are gentle breaths in the quiet room. The irony of the situation all does not escape her and half tugs on her heart, knowing it is nothing but a missing memory for him and one of the fondest for her.

‘Why Bee?’ And she gets it now, why his cheeks flushed and shoulders relaxed when her fingers had traced his arm with his name breezing from her lips so lightly. She gets why he asked to hear it again because that familiarity, the way that one innocent little word is drawn out in that low, breathy voice is something she knows she will never _ever_ get tired of.

It is, quite frankly, a tad rude. She can’t let him get away with it so easily now, can she?  2B leans down, fetches his visor from the floor and leans up to raise it against his eyes. She hesitates just before the soft material covers his eyes, taking a moment to look unashamedly back at fixated eyes, eyes that seem to eagerly devour every tiny little movement she makes. She applies the slightest of pressure against the visor as it settles against his eyes, leans over his shoulder to tie it securely with her lips just ghosting by his ear.

‘You know why, _Nines_.’ And she makes sure to draw it out deliberately against his ear, her breath tickling strands of hair in a way so reminiscent of how his own breath had tickled hers all those lifetimes ago when her blade punctured his lungs and forced blood to drip from those soft, unmarred lips.

His reaction is just as exhilarating as it was the first time. He colours, head tilting ever so slightly into her space as if considering-but no, no he wouldn’t. He was enjoying this game just as much as she was, too much to end it now by closing those last few inches of space and truly making matters infinitely more complicated for them both.

‘You go see to that arm.’ She’s not particularly proud of her lowered, almost dazed voice as she pulls away but 2B’s fought out enough hard victories in battle to know when to stage a retreat. ‘And make sure those fancy techs look after my partner.’

He laughs, stands from the bed and 2B almost instantly misses how warm and small the room had felt when he had been sat besides her. Her eyes never leave him as he walks carefully to her door, pauses as it slides open and looks back with a cautious, cheeky smile.

‘See you soon Bee.’

Who the hell was she kidding? This had already got infinitely more complicated.

 ** _Proposal._** Pod 042 announced in its monotone voice. **_Unit 2B should perhaps follow in Unit 9S’ footsteps. Ensuring sufficient treatment of Unit 9S’ arm would aid in Unit 2B’s confidence in maintenance staff._**

‘That might just be the first sensible thing you’ve proposed all month Pod.’ 2B stood to leave, striding towards the door.

 ** _Unit 2B._** Even despite the monotone voice, the Pod sounds almost confused as it speaks. She pauses. **_This unit has deleted all data pertaining to the previous conversation between yourself and Unit 9S. It will not be uploaded to the Bunker during mandatory updates and data exchange. Command will hold no knowledge of the previous interaction...nor any further interactions which may occur in future._**

**_This unit is…pleased to witness the cohesion between Unit 2B and 9S. Data suggests efficiency will be all the better for it._ **

'...Thank you, Pod.' 

What else is there to say? The support unit's growing on her.


	3. Goodbye Angels

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This used to have 'Angst with a happy ending' as a tag.
> 
> Used to. 
> 
> :)

9S has fallen in battle an innumerable amount of times before he even saw 2B stumble, stagger and drop to one knee in the middle of some more drab city ruins. This was no insult to his combat abilities; amongst the Scanners he was perhaps one of the most proficient fighters they had, considering the amount of combat data he could observe from 2B. No, it was just a result of how tenacious 2B was, how fast and graceful and unstoppable she was as she whirled through the enemy with barely a glance back to see if her previous target was on the ground, red eyes slowly sputtering out. Generally, she didn’t have to.

This time, she should have.

A small little stubby, body cleaved nearly in half whirrs in distress and anger as its saw starts to spin up viciously. With a final lunge, it pierces into 2B’s leg, sinking deep as it rends flesh and synthetic bone as another husk of metal falls before her sword. Her entire body stiffens up as the leg is mauled beyond use, 9S throwing his sword with a strangled yell that impales the remains of the machine and forces it to fall from her leg with a pathetic, clunky noise.

For the first time, 9S sees 2B fall as she stumbles his way, teeth gritted painfully hard. She falls forwards and it’s with a grunt that 9S gains a new appreciation for how many times she has caught him in similar situations; their bodies were most certainly _not_ light.

‘I’ve got you Bee,’ he murmurs, reassuring himself just as much as he is her whilst he carries her to and lowers her against a nearby wall. ‘I’ve got you.’

Wordlessly, Virtuous Treaty is pushed into his hands.

‘Finish the fight.’ She chokes out. ‘I’ll…just…I’ll just slow you down.’ Every inch the solider. How she can even speak through half her leg missing is a miracle itself.

Around them, the machines close in. Whirring and clapping those metallic weapons of theirs together in a sickening, almost taunting manner. _Got you_ , the metal seems to giggle out as arm meets arm. _Got you. Got you. Got_ -

 ** _Unit 2B’s combat data uploaded to Unit 9S._** Pod 042 hovered alongside 153. **_This support unit is ready to assist._**

9S stands slowly, the two swords he wielded both a comfort and a burden. He knew how much she treasured that sword, how much it meant she would pass it to him.

It meant she didn’t think she was coming back from this one. That he would be the one to provide her with them once more at the Bunker.

‘I’m getting you out of here.’ There’s a desperate, stubborn kind of bluntness to his voice as 9S turns, takes up a fighting stance in front of her.

He’s no combat model and the job is done less than gracefully, but it _is_ done. Combat data analysed told him when to roll, when to lunge, when to slice and when to duck, as if 2B herself was at his shoulder directing his body. And he _gets_ it now, how she seems so content to do this all day. There’s a wonderful simplicity in pitting the best of yourself against the best of the enemy, a raw, ancient sort of challenge in which the quickest instinct, the strongest will came out on top.

Time seems to stretch on and yet pass quickly, like the snap of an elastic band as he fights. 9S is hardly aware of his own actions, anger and concern driving the two blades in either hand through the enemy.

When the enemy stops coming, 9S finds himself with Cruel Oath impaled to the hilt in one of the bigger enemies. Eye to eye with him, it was almost…sad how the machines eyes flickered, its body groaning as the body just…sags. It falls to the ground with a jarring clatter as he staggers back, arms suddenly weak.

A hiss of pain and laboured breathing refocuses 9S quickly. In an instant he is kneeling beside 2B, Virtuous Treaty laid back down beside her with an almost reverent care.

‘Pod, find the nearest access point.’ He hadn’t quite realised how badly he was panting until he heard his own breathless words. Cruel Oath slices through one of his shirt sleeves and 9S busies himself with tying it around 2B’s gash.

**_Affirmative. Location marked. Estimated time to access point is-_ **

‘Just put it on my screen.’ He murmured and finally looked up to face 2B. Her teeth were still gritted, face pale and sweaty as her head crashes back against the wall heavily when the makeshift bandage is tightened around the wound. ‘Can you walk?’

‘I’d…I’d rather crawl…than be carried…thank you very…much.’ 9S can’t help but laugh a little at that one. ‘S-stupid mistake. Should’ve…made sure it was…dead.’

‘Makes a nice change, not being the one who needs a new body.’ She flinches at that for some reason as he helps her up carefully, putting himself on her injured side and letting her rest her weight on him.

‘Keeping…t-this body…they can-can patch the leg up.’

‘Why?’ He can’t help himself; one day that question will be the death of him, 9S is sure of it.

‘S-scars tell stories...Can’t forget…learn from my…mistakes…’

They lapse into a pattern of grunts, hisses and laboured breathing as the two limp through the ruins of a dead city, aid miles away.

* * *

 

 ‘It would be detrimental to-‘

‘I’m staying right here.’

‘But, she needs to-‘

‘I’m. Staying. Right. Here.’ 9S crosses his arms from his position beside 2B’s bed. The medical unit opposite him follows suit just as stubbornly.

‘Let him stay,’ 2B chokes out before they settle in for the long haul, leg still bleeding out onto the sterile sheets. ‘Just get this _fucking_ leg fixed already, he can handle the mess.’

‘I see the painkillers have kicked in then.’ The medical unit grumbles before motioning towards a chair. ‘Stay out of the way or I will remove you personally.’

‘Same to you,’ 9S mutters darkly. The glare he gets is worth the amused lilt to 2B’s lips as they get to work.

* * *

 

‘Did you know humans used to actually inject ink into their skin to mark themselves?’ An interface is open in front of 9S, Old World data scrolling before him whilst a surgeon carefully repairs and reattaches destroyed wiring or torn tissue.

‘I didn’t.’ He’s been doing this for some time now. Just reading off nonsensical human data to her, taking her mind off the sharply uncomfortable pain radiating from her leg.

‘You should see some of the stuff they got, it’s ridiculous.’

‘Show me.’ He moves to stand beside her, screen ever so slightly lowered so she could see what looked to be a black dragon over pale skin. 2B’s fingers gently move over 9S’ wrist, lingering far longer than necessary as they graze over softly. ‘Lower Nines.’

That flush again. Good to know even with a mangled leg she could have some sort of impact.

‘S-sorry.’ He lowers and begins to swipe through the gallery. Pick an animal and a human seemed to have inked it onto their body; horses, butterflies, even a caterpillar and-

‘A bee.’ 9S blinks and a mischievous smile makes its way onto his face. ‘Say, 2B-‘

‘I hope you’re not about to say what I think you are.’

‘I just mean that-‘

‘Bad leg or not, I’ll put you in a new body if you keep that line of thought up.’ He snickers and gives her a mock salute.

‘Yes ma’am!’ The medical unit glances at the pair of them and shakes his head.

‘I’m almost done,’ he tells them. ‘Just need to seal the skin back up and you’ll be good as new, scar notwithstanding.’

‘I’ll just go upload the after-action report to the servers while you finish up here,’ 9S tells her. There’s something in his voice, the slightest of wavers as he looks down at her. A most unpleasant chill runs down 2B’s spine and a horrible sense of déjà vu hits.

‘Can’t you do it here?’ This same trick, a ping in the databanks attracting his curiosity when he is alone in uploading to the Bunker’s servers, is always the end of him. He shrugs at her question.

‘Left 153 up in my quarters, need her to dump both sides of the report.’ Teeth worry at his bottom lip. ‘I can stay until you’re done if you like?’

 _Yes_ , her gut screams, _yes, stay, don’t dig, don’t die, just one more day, one more week, please, please, ple-_

‘…It’s fine. I’ll see you up there.’ Now it is 2B’s turn for her voice to waver ever so slightly, making 9S’ head tilt endearingly.

‘You sure?’

_No._

‘Yes. Now go, before I make it an order.’

An amused grunt and another salute before he leaves. The medical unit glances up from his work as the door closes behind 9S.

‘I swear,’ he says, ‘those Scanner models just keep getting more and more peppy.’

* * *

 

Pod 042 hovered by her quarters as 2B slowly walked towards the door. Her leg moved stiffly, the skin tight over artificial muscle and sinew. Freshly woven skin was not the reason her shoulders were set so stiffly.

 ** _This unit regrets to inform Unit 2B that security alarms within the Bunker’s main servers have been set off. Unit 9S has accessed confidential information once more_**.

Ah, there it was. The shock, despite her knowing it was likely always inevitable. The pain, despite her knowing it was better for him to fall on the sword of a friend, than die at the hands of another E-type unit.

The tears were new. This was the first time they welled up, reminding her of a swelling bead of blood as she dazedly walked into her quarters and examined herself in the mirror. She didn’t quite know what that meant.

And the worst part? She was prepared. She had a plan, knew exactly how she might take him out, give him both the respect he deserved and the death he didn’t.

‘Send a message to ready two flight units,’ 2B croaks out. Odd that, despite the wetness in her eyes, her throat was so dry. ‘And have 9S meet me in the hangar.’

 ** _…Affirmative._**

* * *

 

It is a good place to die, 2B thinks. Rich greens flow in waves, the long grass swaying in a gentle breeze. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but grassy hills encircled by cold, grey mountains, followed om by even more grass. One of the few places left on Earth untouched by blood and conflict.

She is almost ashamed that she would disturb such sacred peace, 2B thinks as they hop out of their flight units. 9S is uncharacteristically silent, head bowed as 153 sombrely floats besides him. She had rasped something out about a next assignment, reconnaissance in one of the prettier vistas offered by Earth. He had nodded, a quiet little half-smile on his face.

One flight-unit left them, its engines a roaring disturbance in the peace of the flatlands. One flight-unit remained.

‘You don’t have to do this,’ 9S says quietly. He isn’t begging. Quite the opposite, he sounds almost resigned to his fate. ‘We-We can leave. Go on the run.’

‘They’ll come after us. Kill us both, take our memories.’ 2B keeps her head bowed, back to 9S. Part of her hopes he’ll take Cruel Oath, run it through and sever her spine, puncture her lungs as she once had.

‘We’ve taken down legions of machines.’ There’s the soft noise of grass crunching underfoot as he takes a step forwards. ‘What difference does it make if we turn that into legions of androids as well?’

She doesn’t have an honest answer for him as she turns. She draws her sword, Virtuous Treaty hanging limply by her side.

‘I am still injured.’ 2B says quietly. ‘Combat is not recommended for me for a little while longer.’

‘No.’

‘No?’ Had she not made her idea clear? That she intended to give him a fighting chance? A warriors’ death?

‘I won’t fight you. I don’t think either of us could bring ourselves to put on a convincing fight.’ 9S’ head tilted backwards. He inhales deeply, nostrils flaring ever so slightly as his lips tilt upwards in a smile. They held no trace of sadness in them. ‘Thank you for this. I-I don’t remember my other deaths but I will remember this. The open air, the smell of the grass. Wipe my memory all they want, I’ll remember this somehow.’

 _No you won’t_ , 2B thinks. Her throat feels raw as she reaches up and unties her visor before stepping in close. Once more, the tip of her blade rests against his heart.

‘Last chance,’ Nines said to her, his own visor fluttering to the ground. ‘Anywhere you want, we can run. I’ll-I’ll kill anyone that comes for us. All of them.’

‘They’ll get us eventually. They always do.’ She swallows thickly and makes sure her grip on her sword is firm. ‘I love you. And I have to do this. For your memories, for my life, until this fucking pointless, stupid war is finished. I have to kill you.’

He smiles and his eyes hold no traces of anger, regret or betrayal in them. 2B can’t possibly imagine why she thought this would be easier than running him through from behind, cleanly, with no prolonged goodbyes or feelings hovering in the air.

She thrusts. He gasps and hands come to rest on her shoulders as she gently cradles him, guides him to his knees. When she pulls her own head back from his shoulder, barely composed, she sees blood dripping ever so gently from his panting mouth.

‘I-I look forward to-to-‘

‘Shut up Nines.’ Her own voice is like the breeze, gentle and fleeting in its hushed tone and she gently presses her lips against his own bloody ones with a care he will never remember. There is the faintest pressure in response, the slightest exhale of happy breath against her as he pulls back and falls to the ground.

He does not get up again.


End file.
